Behind the Sun
by Machine Imperium
Summary: Ophelia Sangue, daughter of Zeus and a vampire, is sent to live with the Cullen family for the summer. Rated T for romance, language, and animal/fantasy violence. Enjoy!
1. Chapter Fricken' 1

Chapter fricken' 1.

"No."

"Apolloooooo… Pleaaaaaaaaaasse….."

"I said no. Your dad would flay me alive if I didn't take you." He reasoned.

I mumbled some idle threats, but stopped whining. Apollo was taking me to live with the _other_ side of my rather enormous family. The mystical, paranormal, stupidly idiotic, magical Cullens. I basically hate their guts.

See, I used to live with my mother in tiny Elkins, West Virginia. We lived there happily until around my tenth birthday when my mother was killed by the Volturi. My loving father, Zeus, rescued me just in time before they could slaughter me too. I've lived on Mount Olympus since then. I've never left, not even to go down into the city. Just on top of that stupid mountain with all the other gods and goddesses who baby me because I'm so "special".

Until now.

Zeus randomly decided that I would spend the _entire_ summer with the Cullens in Forks, Washington. Problem A: I've never met them. Problem B: I don't want to be involved with anything vampirous seeing that my mom got killed. Problem C: Zeus said something about summer school; "to interact with young, non-magical, people my own age". Something bogus like that.

So here I am, in the passenger seat, with my half-brother Apollo, who is driving me across the sky in his flaming Lamborghini to Forks. And he won't drive me to Japan. Or anywhere else for that matter.

"Why do you hate them so much?" Apollo asked.

"It's not specifically them, it's all vampires! My mother was killed by vampires and it ruined my life."

"You're over-exaggerating, Ophelia. Mount Olympus isn't _that_ bad."

"Zeus is." He gave me a disbelieving look. "_You_ can go out into the city or the world or anywhere else! I can't! Zeus is so over-protective about the Volturi that have probably forgotten about me! They've never bothered Mount Olympus, or any other god about me. They don't care, but I'm still tucked away, ridiculously safe and sound. It's driving me crazy!"

He sighed. "Sounds like you're trapped between a rock and a hard place."

"Well we could go to Japan instead….."

"Yeah, sorry, no." I swore loudly, but settled back into my fine leather seat and admitted I was defeated.

We landed on an empty stretch of road somewhere in Washington.

"How far?" I asked.

"'Bout ten minutes." I moaned, and slammed my head on the dashboard.

"Ow." I mumbled.

The car made a sharp left turn and eventually stopped.

"Are we here?" I asked without looking up.

"Yeah." He got out, opened my door, and handed me my suitcase. I sighed and stepped out of the car.

We were in front of a large wood-and-metal modern house with a lot of windows. There were dark trees everywhere, and a five-car garage.

"You sure this is the right place?" I said in bewilderment.

"This is the address Dad gave me."

"Oh."

Apollo walked confidentially towards the front door and knocked loudly.

The door swung open and a beautiful man and woman walked out. Inside the door there were other people, but they kept their distance.

"You must be Ophelia; we're so delighted to meet you!" The woman said enthusiastically. "I'm Esme and this is Carlisle. But you are?"

"Apollo, god of the Sun. I'm just dropping Ophelia off. He gave me a hug and whispered "You better be good." I nodded.

"It was nice meeting you; Goodbye Ophelia!" he called as he got back in his car and drove away. I turned back to the vampires. Esme and Carlisle looked friendly, but the others looked menacing. We all looked at each other for what seemed like forever, until a girl from inside walked out and cheerfully said "I'm Alice! I'll show you where your room is."


	2. Chapter Fricken' 2

Chapter Fricken' Two

The slight girl took my hand and pulled me through the doorway.

"Don't mind any of them; they're a bunch of softies once you get to know them." She giggled. I wasn't so sure. One of them had a mean, hungry look, and another had arms as big as tree trunks. None of them said anything, so I didn't either.

Alice led me through a very clean and modern house, up some stairs and down the hall to a bedroom.

"This used to be Edward's room, but he's in the Forest Cottage with Bella, so you can stay here."

"Thanks. I- I mean, thank you, Alice." I stuttered.

She grinned. "You're totally welcome. Are you hungry?" I shook my head.

"I don't eat. Do you?" I asked curiously.

"No, we don't. I thought you might only because Nessie does. Oh well. If you need anything, just give a shout."

"Thanks again, Alice." I tried to smile, but it felt like a grimace. She smiled anyway, and skipped out of the room.

Edward (whoever that is)'s room was smaller than my room on Olympus, but that doesn't mean it was tiny. Almost any bedroom in the universe would be smaller than my old one.

One wall of the room was just a huge window, and the other wall had a large CD/cassette player thing in the middle and tons of shelves on either side and above, but no CDs. Alice said something about him being in a forest cottage, so I guess he took his CDs with him. He must've taken the stuff off the shelves next to the door and the books off the bookcase too. At least now there's room for my stuff. There was a low white couch on a gray rug next to the window-wall and double doors with glass panes to the outside. I peeked out, and it was a dizzying drop straight to the ground.

"What the heck?" I muttered. I slammed the doors shut, locked them, and dragged the couch in front.

I threw my suitcase onto the couch, sat on the floor, and started to cry.

**Sorry it's such a short chapter, but I thought this was a good stopping point. **


	3. Chapter 3: Rhinos and Chewing Gum

Chapter 3: Rhinos and Chewing Gum

I eventually told myself I was being stupid, and I should get a move on. I stood up, brushed myself off, and started unpacking. I threw my stuffed green dragon named Sherman onto the bed, and pulled out the sign for the door. It was a drawing I did of a five-petal rose. My mother told me that the rose meant secrecy, and I should put it on the door if I want to be left alone. Here, it'll _always_ be on my door.

All my clothes I neatly folded and put away in the closet. I laid my shoes out in pairs underneath. There were trays that slide out, so I put all my jewelry away, too. This guy, Edward, has a seriously kickass closet.

There was a quiet knock on the door. It was Alice and Esme.

"Hi." I said.

"Are you okay? Alice said she thought she heard crying." Esme asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But, um… You guys, you know, drink blood, right?" They both nodded.

"You don't happen to have any, do you?" I asked, nervously. Esme looked a little surprised.

"You mean you want to go hunt?" Alice inquired.

"Hunt? What do you mean, hunt? I thought you guys drank human blood!" I said a little shocked.

They looked even more shocked (if possible), and a little frightened. "We drink animal blood. That's why our eyes are amber-colored, instead of red." Esme said. "You drink human blood, from humans?"

I nodded. "I don't know how my dad would get it, but my mom's best friend who knew about vampires and was a nurse. She would smuggle blood that was about to go bad from the blood bank for me and my mom. I never sucked blood from a living breathing human before. I wouldn't want to." They both visibly relaxed.

"I suppose that's why your eyes would be a dull burgundy. You drink human blood, but not fresh human blood." Alice said quietly.

"Would you like to try hunting? Edward was saying he was going to go soon." Esme suggested. I shuffled nervously. Meeting another member of the Cullen clan? I'd almost rather ride a rhinoceros.

"I won't be any good." I mumbled. Esme gently took my head in her hands and looked me in the eyes.

"Why not? It's in our blood and instincts. Vampires are good at hunting. Even Nessie is. Go hunt with Edward." She insisted.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Alice suggested. I nodded, shamefaced. I felt like a failure vampire. "Well… Let's go!" She gave me a little shove towards the door to get me going. We tromped down the stairs to the living room where the others were lounging. Any lasting confidence I had fell straight to Hades. I was terribly nervous.

"Ophelia's thirsty! Anyone else want to hunt?" Alice called out. I felt my cheeks flame. A guy with bronze-y hair and the same creepy amber eyes jumps the sofa and walks over towards us.

"Ophelia Sangue."

"Edward Cullen." He replied and held his hand out. I shook it nervously, hoping my hand wasn't as sweaty as I thought it was. He nodded to Alice, as if they were sharing some secret communication.

I glanced at the others sitting on the various chairs and sofas. A pretty blonde girl was chewing gum. She was sitting with the muscled guy. There was a woman with toddler and the guy with the disturbingly hungry look. The only one absent was Carlisle.

"I guess I'll go." The hungry dude stood up. I subconsciously shuddered. He made me even more nervous. I wasn't introduced.

We all trooped out to the edge of the woods. Now that the other guy was going, Alice seemed a bit reluctant to go with me. Edward, I guess, noticed this.

"Stay with me." He muttered. I nodded, wondering what we were going to do. He suddenly bolted, as did Alice and her friend. I glanced around, and decided to sprint after them. I could run faster than my mom could, but I really didn't expect them to just run off like that. I could barely see anything between the shrubberies, so I only pushed harder and began to see a figure that looked similar to Edward a bit ahead. He either slowed down, or I sped up, because the distance shortened. I conveniently forgot how to stop/slow down when I finally caught up to/ smashed into Edward.

"AAAAHHCK!" I screeched.

We both tried to stop each other, but only ended up tumbling head-over-heels down a slope. He recovered first and pounced on me, grabbing my throat. I started thrashing and kicked him in the crotch. His grip on my larynx slackened and I pushed him off me.

"What the hell are you doing?" I screamed at him. He reeled back and supported himself against a tree.

"Testing you. You did well." I glared at him. He shrugged and stood up.

"So are you still hungry? Or did a little struggle ruin your appetite?" He was taunting me and he knew it. I slapped him in the ear.

"Are you sure _you're _okay? I kicked your wiener pretty hard."

He winced, but started walking. "We mostly hunt big animals, like deer, mountain lions, and the occasional bear. You should start with a deer, and if you need help, I'll be there." I mumbled some colorful threats, mostly about an oversized thumbtack and his asshole.

We walked on silently. Edward stopped suddenly and motioned for me to shut up and listen. I began to hear a snuffling sort of noise. I mouthed _a deer? _He nodded, and pointed to the left. I nodded, and sprung noiselessly into a tree and began to scurry through the branches in that direction. I scampered from limb to limb until I was right above the buck. Edward was behind a tree in clear view. He motioned for me to keep going. I dropped down onto the deer's back and broke its neck. Edward was there in a flash. I stumbled away and retched emptily. I had taken a living creature's life. It felt awful.

Edward was finished with his share, and was crouching next to me as I squirmed and gagged.

"I can't do it. I'm sorry, I can't." I sobbed. He nodded.

"I didn't think you would. Drink this." He handed me a little kid's sippy cup. I took it from him and sniffed the end suspiciously.

"Just drink it." I glanced at him again, but took a sip.

Surprisingly, it was warm and familiar.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I'll tell you when you're done." I rolled my eyes, but kept drinking. When there was nothing left, I looked back at Edward.

He sighed. "It was the deer's blood. I collected it when you were retching."

"Thanks. I'm sorry I freaked out."

"You're welcome. You know," He grinned "now your eyes are orange."


	4. Chapter 4: Sneaks and Cougars

Chapter 4

We hurried back to the house. Alice and her mysterious friend met up with us about halfway back.

"Successful hunt?" Edward asked politely. The dude nodded, and Alice said "We found a frisky mountain lion near the cliffs."

"Ophelia killed a deer." Edward mentioned. The guy looked a bit surprised, but Alice just nodded. Edward looked up.

"Sorry, I have to go." He said, before strolling off to a cottage I conveniently hadn't noticed before. He opened the door and disappeared inside.

Now I was stuck with a bunch of strangers. Crap.

"Oh my gosh! I never introduced you two!" Alice exclaimed. "Okay, Ophelia, this is Jasper, my husband, and Jasper, this is Ophelia Sangue." We both muttered 'hi' and went back to our silence. Finally, we arrived at the back door. Inside, everyone seems to be sitting where they were, as if we had never left.

"How was it?" Esme asked.

"Jasper and I got a lively mountain lion, and Ophelia bagged a deer." Alice said. Uncomfortable silence.

"Ophelia, your father told us he wanted you to go to summer school. It starts this Monday, and we've enrolled you. Do you want to get any supplies tomorrow?" Carlisle inquired.

"Sure. Thanks." I smiled. Today was Friday.

Again, Alice felt it was necessary for me to know everyone present. "Ophelia, this is Rosalie and Emmet," The blonde and the hulk "Bella, and her daughter Renesmee." The woman with brown hair and the toddler. I nodded hello. All of them were stunningly beautiful, like my mother. I think I look like a dork, and no one contradicts me when I mention it. Must be the godly side.

It was getting kind of late, so I said good night and went up to my new room. I do have to sleep, but it's always like eight or so hours every third day or something. The room was a bit dark, not that I couldn't see. It was just a bit dim. My suitcase was still on my bed, with Sherman next to it. My laptop was out…. Did I leave it like that? I shook myself, and shut the door. I reached for the light switch when a pale white hand sneaked out from the darkness and grabbed my wrist. Another sneaked over my mouth before I could scream. They were _extremely_ strong, but I started thrashing and making as much noise as I could. Two more hands reached out and held me down.

"Quick, inject it." Someone whispered. They yanked my arm out. I felt a sharp prick of a needle in the crease of my elbow. I tried everything: curling into a ball, turning over, electrocution, biting, peeing (well I didn't actually pee, but I tried), anything. Nothing worked.

My head began to hurt, and I felt dizzy. The colors meshed and swirled… What was going on?

"I- I can't breathe…." I mumbled. My muscles relaxed, and my eyes closed.

I fell willingly into the soft, deep darkness….


	5. V

V

floating. nothing. blank impossible dreams of nonentity. gone, gone it's gone… floating floating [ALWAYS FLOATING] floating eternally

(WHEN DOES THIS END?) drifting wandering black deep deep deep velvet darkness

Sleep…..

Sleep…

no no No NO NO! [IT BURNS] too bright! too bright! {THE LIGHT IS HERE, NOW}

NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. . .

I'm so sorry.


	6. Chapter 581293081

Chapter 5.81293081

I opened my eyes slowly. There was ugly navy blue upholstery in front of my nose, and something tan behind it, but everything was out of focus. I was sitting up. Someone had to have put me here. I shook my head a little more, and everything instantly cleared. I was on an airliner. The ugly upholstery was the seat. The tan thing behind it was the wall, and the closed window. Well, that still leaves a horde of questions. Who put me here? Why can't I remember anything? Where am I going? And, if I'm in the window seat, who am I sitting with…?

I turned my head slowly around. In the other two seats were…. Monks? They were wearing identical heavy black-brown robes with hoods that covered their faces. One seemed taller and thicker than the other. The only exposed skin I could see was their hands, which were deathly white…

…And it hit me. I was taken by two pairs of white hands. I couldn't see the rest of the people. _These were my kidnappers!_ But why would monks want to kidnap me?

The skinnier one turned to glance at me and saw me staring at him. And I was staring. It was him. He was one of the ones I had nightmares about since That Dark Day, seven years ago. He was with the Volturi. He killed my mother.

"What's your name?" I asked. My voice quivered slightly. He lowered his hood.

"Demetri." His voice had an Italian accent, like I remembered. This was like a terrible Déjà vu.

"Who are you talking to- Ah, our young charge is awake." He winked at me, and shook his hood off, too. I remembered him as well. He was there with Demetri, two young vampires (that looked like twins), and two older-looking male vampires; one with long white hair, and one with long dark hair.

"Why did you take me?" I demanded. Demetri frowned, and they both turned away. I huffed, and grabbed a magazine out of the rack. It was in Italian.

"We're going to _Italy_?" I exclaimed. The other one nodded. "What's your name?" I asked him.

He turned to Demetri "_Devo dirle?_"

Demetri shrugged "_Si, ho fatto._"

"Felix. My name is Felix." He replied in accented English.

"_Saremo sbarco in dieci minuti. Cinture di sicurezza, per favora._" Seeing that this meant absolutely nothing to me, I nervously looked around the cabin, and jumped every time there was a loud noise or a shift in elevation. I nearly pissed myself when the plane bumped to a landing and taxied into the terminal. The seatbelt sign was turned off and the few other people started to get up. Demetri gently reached for my hand and led me into the aisle and off the plane. He and Felix put their hoods up. I felt like an idiot; me- wearing a gold and ivory ruffled dress, shiny gold combat boots, mussed hair, eyes half-closed, holding hands with a monk.

"What airport are we in?" I asked sleepily. The lights were too bright and it felt too cold. My head was hurting.

"_Amerigo Vespucci_. Florence. It's an hour and a half drive to-" Felix cut Demetri off with a look. I barely glanced at my surroundings as I was led out of the airport. It looked pre-dawn, but there was a nice breeze that smelled fresh.

We were in a parking garage. A _luxury_ parking garage. In the first rows, I recognized a Rolls Royce, a Jaguar, and a Lamborghini. We walked down the rows to a sleek black car. Felix unlocked it and held the rear door open for me. I let go of Demetri's hand and winked at Felix as I climbed in. He chuckled and climbed into the front seat. Demetri had slid in beside him.

Felix started driving. I felt numb. I was in Italy with two vampires that helped slaughter my mother. No one else knew where I was. I was being taken to (assumedly) the Volturi Castle… To die.

Felix and Demetri were murmuring in Italian in the front seat. I didn't bother putting a seatbelt on. A car crash wouldn't kill a vampire, or a vampire-human-god. Especially not a vampire-human-god. Slicing-and-burning a vampire-human-god would kill one, though.

I drifted into a light uneasy sleep. Thoughts, memories continued to swirl around my skull, but I was still so tired…


	7. Chapter 7 Subtle Flirts & Cheeseburgers

7. "Subtle" Flirts and Cheeseburgers

I woke up with a jolt when the car stopped and I rolled off the seat onto the floor.

"Ow." They both glanced back, then down. Demetri chuckled and Felix winked. Of course.

"Can I have a burger? Please?" I asked from the floor. They looked very surprised. Felix turned and focused back on the road. Demetri turned to mutter in Italian with him.

"_Ti ha appena ditto hamburger?_"

"_Credo di si. Vuoi smettere?_"

"_Certo. Laggi__ú__._"

"You want a hamburger?" Demetri turned towards me and still looked incredulous.

"I can eat human food, just not too much. I throw up eventually." Demetri sighed and twisted back around.

So, a day of firsts; I was in a luxury black car, with two vampires (that helped kill my mother) who are dressed as monks, in Italy, in a McDonalds drive thru.

We pulled back into the busy fray of morning rush-hour. "How much farther to this secret location?" I asked.

"Not far." The reply floated back. I shrugged and settled into wolfing down my McDouble.

The car drove into the center of town. I noticed a slightly fuzzy shape in the distance. The edges sharpened as we neared; it was….. A castle? Who puts a castle in the middle of a city nowadays?

In fact, we drove straight up the little hill to the barred gate of the castle. I was feeling panicky, and started wondering if I could open the door and run far enough, fast enough so that they couldn't get me. I had this terrible female intuition that if I was taken inside, I would never, ever leave.

We drove into what looked like a small parking garage. Two "monks" took the car like chauffeurs. They glanced at me curiously, but Demetri stopped the others probing stares. Felix sneaked his arm around my waist and Demetri draped his arm around my shoulders. It seemed romantic at first, but their grips were strong, and any thoughts of me running flew out the window.

They led me through a small wooden door, and up a staircase. Once on what seemed to be the main floor, they practically dragged me down a hallway. And, unless some rooms looked exactly the same, we passed through the same halls repeatedly. Finally we stopped in a small antechamber.

"Stay here until we come back for you. The doors are guarded. Do not try anything." And they walked out.

I sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And tried walking on my hands. And argued with myself. And practiced distance-spitting. And tried to see out of the frosted glass window. And realized I had to pee. And did the potty dance. And started an intricate sock puppet reality-drama. And taught myself the alphabet backwards. _Finally_, the door opened.

A handsome young male vampire walked in, smirking.

"You are requested by the Leaders. And… The guards think you're… Odd. They can see you." My cheeks flamed. I didn't realize they were spying on me.

The vampire flung open the double doors, and led me to the middle of the room. Inside there were several vampires, both male and female, milling around. Immediately in front of me were three chairs, each filled with a vampire. Two had dark hair and one had hair almost as white as his skin. Rejoice! I recognized two of them.

"_Tutti voi, lasciate, tranne Felix e Demetri._" The white-haired one called out. All the vampires steadily filed out until only I, the three sitting at the front, Demetri, and Felix were left.

"State your full name." One said in an almost bored tone.

"Ophelia Marie Theresa Melpomene Sangue." One of the dark-haired one's head twitched up to stare at me. "And you are?" I asked pointedly.

"Aro," he pointed to himself (he had the white hair) "Caius," he gestured to the one on his left, with dark hair, "and Marcus." The other dark-haired one who was watching me intently.

"Name your parents." He asked. I shook my head. All three were now fully captivated by me. I guess people don't refuse them too often. I hoped they didn't notice me shaking uncontrollably.

"Age?" he tried again.

"S-seventeen."

"Is that when you were changed?"

"I was born. I've been growing. Next year I'll be eighteen." If they were surprised, they didn't show it. I was just disturbed by Marcus' constant gaze.

It felt like hours and hours of pointless, stupid questions. Aro finally waved his hand and Felix and Demetri took hold of either side of me and forcefully escorted me away. They asked questions like where do I live, why was I at the Cullen's, and especially, who are my parents. I felt (and probably looked) exhausted.

They stuck me in a cramped jail cell, complete with metal bars. It was in an equally secure small room. Felix was outside the room and Demetri was outside the cage. Yay! Even more sitting in a small space with nothing to do.

"_Shit._"I muttered in inevitable despair that began to roll in like a dark cloud.

At least there were some metal bars on the ceiling. I jumped and grabbed on when Demetri wasn't looking. I wedged myself between some bars, all completely silent, mind you.

When Demetri did glance into the Cage of Hell, I heard him stand up so fast the chair he was sitting on fell backwards. He jumped to the door, wrenched it open, and dragged Felix into the room.

"_Se n'e andata! Lei deve aver sfuggtio!_" Demetri screamed. Felix quickly unlocked the door to the cage and peered inside.

"EEEEEAAAHHH!" I screamed and dropped down on Felix's head. I used his back as a spring board and leaped over Demetri, sprinted out the door and down a hall.

After running as fast as I could without seeing anyone, I stopped. They were going to catch me sooner or later. The exit doors would be blocked and it would be a game of Cat-And-Mouse; they would corner me in a castle I was unfamiliar in, easily. I glanced around and spotted a medium-sized ugly vase. Thinking quickly, I threw the vase as hard as I could at the window. Both the vase and the window shattered.  
Turns out, it was a third-story window.

I was going to jump anyway. I began to crawl out on the wide ledge when something cold, hard and strong wrapped around my ankle; of course, a vampire's hand.

I glanced over my shoulder, expecting Felix or Demetri or some other bully.

I did _not_ expect Marcus.

He pulled me back off the ledge and onto the ornate window seat. Neither of us said anything for a long time. We just sat on the window seat stiffly. He was looking at me with a funny sort of expression then leaned in _very _close to my face. I realized what he was going for about three seconds too late.

Marcus softly pressed his lips to mine. I blanked and was kind of in shock. Is this why he would not stop staring at me?

I broke the kiss first. He looked a bit surprised, but shushed me, took my hand and silently pulled me down the hallway.

We stopped at a set of double doors. Marcus dropped my hand and swept open the doors with a flourish, beckoning me to enter. I hesitated, cos this seemed to be his private rooms. He'd better not expect to get me anywhere his bed…

We sat in a parlor-type room with a large, hairy wolf- thing-head mounted on a plaque.

"I swear, I will hide you from _them_." Marcus implored. I nodded absentmindedly, still looking around the room.

"Why am I here? Why did they take me?" He sighed.

"I cannot tell you. I am sorry." I nodded. I didn't expect him to tell me right off the bat. It would take time. Time I may or may not have…

"I have to go. The council calls." He stood up, hesitated, as if he wanted to say something, and walked back out the doors, locking them behind him. I sighed.

He didn't return for hours. I was so bored, and my head was spinning; exhaustion wormed its way in and I fell asleep on his bed.


End file.
